LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 22
Chapter 22 – A Good Documentary
“Uhm…? Finally!”
The moment Si-hyun stepped into the Gate, his eyes widened and he let out an impressed gasp. It felt as if he wanted to break into a dance right there.
Before him, a Human-type Monster, a Goblin, was sauntering about.
It seemed like after a painfully long quest, he would finally have the chance to resolve it. How many times had he wanted to grow stronger but couldn’t just because of that?
It felt like a blockage in his chest had finally cleared. Losing a decaying tooth wouldn’t feel this good.
“A Goblin habitat? Let’s prepare in formation and approach them one by one… Wait? Hey, Si-hyun! Where are you going?”
Min-jun shouted at Si-hyun with a dumbfounded expression.
Si-hyun had suddenly dashed toward the spot where several Goblins gathered at full speed.
It was particularly surprising since Si-hyun hadn’t shown such impetuous behavior before.
“Hey, it’s really nice to see you guys! I’ve missed you so much!”
“Gruk?”
Si-hyun looked like he was reuniting with a lost little brother after a decade, leaving the Goblins momentarily bewildered.
As monsters with a certain degree of intelligence, the Goblins sensed genuine joy rather than hostility in Si-hyun’s attitude.
“Anyway, thanks a lot. I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“Grurrr!”
As Si-hyun smiled and drew his Longsword, only then did the Goblins pick up their crude weapons and growl lowly.
Shwhip!
Swoosh!
“Kyack!”
Si-hyun’s Longsword sliced swiftly through the air, beheading one Goblin. With strength and agility already at D-rank level, Si-hyun’s sword was beyond what an E-rank Gate Monster could dodge.
“Ugh… Let’s just go, man.”
Min-jun stared blankly at the scene, shook his head in disbelief, and dashed towards where Si-hyun was.
“Father… Let’s go.”
“…Ah, okay.”
When Eun-hye and Guild Leader Sang-hyuk followed Min-jun, the youngest guild member of Grace Guild, Jae-min, trailed behind.
Thus, the somewhat unsettled Goblin hunt began.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Hey, how can you just run off like that alone?”
After taking down the Gate’s boss, the Goblin Chief, Min-jun spoke up.
“Ah, I’m really sorry. I suddenly lost my self-control. I truly apologize.”
Si-hyun bowed politely, apologizing to his guild members.
Charging alone at the enemy without saying a word was an inexcusable mistake.
He had acted on impulse, overwhelmed by joy.
“Si-hyun oppa isn’t normally like that… There must’ve been a reason.”
“Yeah, Si-hyun isn’t the type to act like that.”
Eun-hye and Sang-hyuk said it was okay.
Jae-min, who usually spoke very little, nodded in agreement without saying a word.
“I apologize once again. I promise this won’t happen again.”
Si-hyun lowered his head.
“Ah, that’s enough, Si-hyun. It all ended without any incidents, so it’s all good.”
Sang-hyuk expressed discomfort at receiving constant apologies.
Min-jun also gestured that it was time to leave by pointing toward the Gate’s entrance.
Only then did Si-hyun return to his usual expression.
‘Awesome, I leveled up.’
Si-hyun inwardly cheered, murmuring to himself.
The status screen showed that strength, agility, and stamina had each increased by 10.
He felt he could go home today and comfortably watch a documentary.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Yes, yes, oppa will be on TV soon, okay? No, it’s a public broadcast. NBS. It’s at 10:40 PM. Yes, be sure to watch it.”
His younger sister, Ha-young, seemed to be on the phone with their parents in Yeongwol.
She came to his apartment to watch his appearance on the show.
Thanks to her, he had to do some unexpected cleaning before heading out for the raid. Typically, after work, he would just do a quick job of tidying up the dust.
Si-hyun prepared a simple snack with strawberries, oranges, and potato chips he bought from the mart. Setting up two cans of 500 ml beer completed the setup.
“Wow, you’ve got some class, our oppa.”
Ha-young smiled brightly, probably craving a cool beer.
“This is just how your oppa rolls.”
Si-hyun chuckled, sitting next to Ha-young.
The TV was already tuned to NBS.
Looking at the time, there were about 20 minutes left.
“How’s work going these days?”
Si-hyun asked.
“Well, it’s going okay. Oh, you broke up with your civil service exam girlfriend, huh?”
Ha-young abruptly turned the conversation.
“Huh? Oh.”
He hadn’t talked about it yet, but she must have noticed after seeing he had removed all the photos of Su-jin from his apartment.
“Since you were taking care of her, she couldn’t have dumped you. Must be she broke up with you first.”
“Yeah, that’s how it went.”
“I see. Either way, you’ll find another good girl soon.”
Ha-young deliberately kept her tone light as she ended the conversation.
She popped open a beer can and handed it to Si-hyun, then opened her own.
“Let’s have a drink, oppa.”
“Sounds good.”
“Cheers.”
Ha-young and Si-hyun clinked their beer cans together.
“Ahh.”
The refreshing beer flowed down their throats, making Ha-young involuntarily voice her delight.
Si-hyun gulped down several sips, also feeling thirsty.
“Ah, oppa, you’re recording this, right?”
“I’m actually trying to download the video file from the internet.”
“Okay. Since you’re appearing on a public broadcast documentary, you’ve got to keep it for posterity.”
As they chatted, the documentary was already nearing airtime.
“Wow, I’m getting all jittery.”
Ha-young gulped nervously.
“I’m already in position.”
Si-hyun perched himself on the edge of the couch, leaning forward as much as possible.
Soon, the intro music played, and with narration, ‘Documentary: 72 Hours’ began.
The familiar scenery of Daehan Correctional Facility, where he had been working for three years, slowly zoomed in from afar.
Then the camera transitioned inside.
Familiar faces of the staff flashed on the screen.
They were faces he saw every day, but seeing them on screen felt different from seeing them in person—it was a curious sensation, as if he was looking at someone entirely different.
The first day began with an interview with the Warden. He briefly explained the history of the Daehan Correctional Facility and how it is currently run.
Afterward, the camera quickly skimmed through various departments like the Complaints Department, Administrative Department, Records Department, and Medical Department. It seemed to serve to give an overview of the facility’s structure.
Finally, it focused on the most crucial department, the Security Department.
The camera followed the employees of the Security Department as they worked busily. Amid that, they interviewed appropriately, weaving diverse stories.
They particularly interviewed a staff member handling information disclosure. Through the eyes of the employee, it was revealed that the inmates’ indiscriminate demands for information disclosure had overwhelmed the correctional officers’ workload. The employee explained tiredly that some inmates might request hundreds of information disclosures themselves.
It seemed like the first day’s footage focused more on the correctional officers than the inmates.
The next scene displayed the visitation waiting room.
‘Here it comes.’
Si-hyun’s eyes sparkled.
The waiting area was crowded with visitors, and suddenly, an inmate started causing a ruckus.
The camera zoomed in on the inmate’s outburst.
Profanities were appropriately muted with beeps.
“Oh my… Oppa works in such a dangerous place.”
Seeing the massive inmate with a flushed face yelling and causing chaos, Ha-young looked worried.
“Honestly, it’s not that bad.”
Si-hyun responded.
As he talked, the camera, which had been focused on the inmates, turned toward the dispatched CRPT teams.
“Oh? Isn’t that you, oppa?”
Even with the mask on, she recognized him immediately.
She looked amazed as she turned her wide eyes to the screen.
“That’s me.”
Soon after, Si-hyun’s exploits continued.
– “Calm down! Why aren’t you quiet?”
– “Huh…?! Ughhh!”
– “I said be quiet, why are you yelling again?”
– “I-I’ll be quiet! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“….”
Seeing it on screen made him look cooler than he had expected!
He felt he must appear impressive from others’ perspectives.
“Is this for real…? Oppa, did you purposely stage this…?”
Ha-young looked utterly shocked.
No matter how they thought about it, the sight of him instantly subduing the boisterous inmate didn’t make any logical sense.
“It’s all real.”
Si-hyun’s exploits continued into the second day.
Starting with him taking down an inmate throwing items in the cell and demanding to see the Warden, to quickly calming down two inmates who were arguing and fighting.
Ha-young’s shock left her with her mouth agape, gripping her head in disbelief.
Finally came the orderly scene of the Ward and interviews with the inmates.
Si-hyun had paid special attention to this part.
To his surprise, the inmates’ interviews were an enormous satisfaction.
When they instructed the inmates to show remorse and cry while being interviewed, they all displayed faces of repentance that would give Hollywood actors a run for their money and sobbed through their interviews.
Did they mean it? The thought crossed his mind.
While watching that scene, Ha-young seemed to get hit with a third wave of shock; she gulped down her beer while muttering, “No way, no way.”
On the last day, Si-hyun’s performance made one last notable scene. Moreover, he had the closing interview.
– “Was there anything you particularly regretted while working as a correctional officer?”
It was Han I-seol’s voice.
– “In every society, there’s no society without crime. Thus, correctional facilities are absolutely necessary. However, our country faces an extreme shortage of correctional facilities. As a result, each department is over capacity, making life harder for both inmates and officers. I do understand the feelings of those who oppose it. They likely have reservations about correctional facilities entering their neighborhoods. Still, if you could give it another thought, I would truly appreciate it as a correctional officer.”
Si-hyun’s words concluded with a statistical depiction showcasing the current number of correctional facilities and how much the inmate population had exceeded, leaving viewers with something to ponder.
“That was a great documentary.”
Clap, clap, clap!
Si-hyun nodded repeatedly with a satisfied look as he applauded.
“…That’s not my oppa.”
Ha-young seemed unable to shake off her shock from seeing her oppa effortlessly subduing inmates.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Hey, did you see the internet?”
Rubbing his eyes at the phone ringing, it was his friend Sang-kyu.
“Dude, why are you calling me so early in the morning?”
“You’ve become an internet star, man! Your edited clips are going around every community!”
“Huh?”